


Just Another Day

by strangestolive



Series: Just Another Day [1]
Category: IT (2017), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Crossover, richie and mike are twins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-08 00:09:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13446348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangestolive/pseuds/strangestolive
Summary: Stranger Things/IT crossover in which Richie and Mike are twins, Mileven is real, and even though Hawkins Lab was shut down what lies beneath the Upside Down is still up to no good!





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stranger Things/IT crossover in which Richie and Mike are twins, Mileven is real, and even though Hawkins Lab was shut down what lies beneath the Upside Down is still up to no good!
> 
> Title from the song Just Another Day by Oingo Boingo!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The Stranger Things/IT (2017) crossover you’ve all been waiting for! In this fic all of the events regarding the Upside Down and the Shadow Monster HAVE happened but everything involving Pennywise? Never did. (Pennywise? I don’t know her!). All of the losers club live in Hawkins with the rest of the party and most importantly, Mike and Richie are twins!

“Richie hurry up you’re going to be late for school and I am  _not_  driving you two again this morning, I swear!” Karen Wheeler shouted up the stairs towards the bedrooms of the house.

Richie came running down the stairs as he quickly threw his hoodie over his head.

“I’m not Richie, I’m Mike! Geez woman, and you call yourself our mother!” Richie called back. He often pretended to be his twin brother Mike, but thanks to Richie’s horrible eyesight and his need to wear glasses, Mrs. Wheeler often figured it out.

“Richie, we are not playing this game again today! Now hurry up, and get out that door!” His mother demanded.

“I’m goin’, I’m goin’!” Richie whined as he slipped into his running shoes and grabbed his backpack from the floor, slinging it over his shoulder. “See ya’ mom!” he called out before shuffling out the door.

“God, you take forever” Mike greeted his brother as he joined him outside. Mike was the organized twin. The one who was always on time, his shirt neatly ironed, and his lunch packed the night before. He had been on the porch for ten minutes waiting for his brother to join him so they could walk to the bus stop together as they always did in the morning. “And your sweater is hideous, go back to wearing those Hawaiian shirts.”

Richie laughed from beside him as they headed down the street. Richie pulled up his hoodie slightly while holding down the bright yellow and grey flowered shirt underneath. “What, you mean this old thing under here?” Mike rolled his eyes. “I’ll be dead before I stop wearing these!” Richie proclaimed.

“When you die can you take those light up sketchers with you too?” Mike chirped back causing Richie to nudge him with his shoulder.

The two boys approached the street corner where their bus picked up them up and Eddie was standing by the stop sign waiting for them like always.

“Morning Eds!” Richie greeted as he came to a stop next to the smaller boy, sliding his arm around Eddie’s shoulders.

“Don’t call me that!” Eddie responded and shrugged Richie off of him. “Good morning Mike.”

“Hey Eddie.” Mike replied.

The three boys chatted with each other in the few minutes before the bus pulled up to take them to school. Normally they would all ride their bikes together to school, but the other week Eddie had gotten a scrape on his thigh from toppling over his bike when he and Bill were racing around town so naturally his mother banned him from riding his bike for the next month until he got “better”. Out of solidarity, Richie and Mike offered to ride the bus with him each day until Eddie got his bike back.

Once inside the hallways of Hawkins High School, the three boys made their way through the crowded space and to their lockers before homeroom started.

“Morning losers!” Richie greeted the group of friends congregated in front of their lockers.

“God that sweater is ugly!” Max stated right off the bat.

“Yeah Richard, where the hell did you get that ugly thing?” Beverly added.

Richie looked down at his sweater before grabbing the bottom and pulling it off over his head. He tossed the bright blue and purple hoodie onto the top shelf inside his locker.

“Gee guys, I’m sensing this one wasn’t much of a crowd pleaser! Eds, why didn’t you say anything when I bought it?” Richie asked.

Eddie shrugged from beside him at his locker. “Dunno, I thought it was cool.”

Richie glanced at Eddie quickly and grinned. He quickly grabbed the books he needed for class and threw them into his bag.

The bell rang signalling the remaining three minute everyone had to get to their homeroom classes and everyone in the halls started to disperse. The group of friends spread out, muttering about how they’d see each other at lunch and headed off down different hallways. Richie and Mike were still walking with each other though. Being twins, they were always paired together in classes throughout middle school. Once they reached high school they thought they would finally be separated by their classes and have different schedules, but somehow, they were still stuck by one another for home room every morning, as well as a few other classes too.

“Did Eddie actually think your sweater was cool?” Mike asked as they climbed upstairs to the second floor of the school.

Richie shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess so.”

The two boys quickly took their seats in class as the final bell rang. Eleven and Stan were also in their homeroom too. Richie slid into the spot next to Stan and placed his backpack on the floor next to him. Across the room Mike was sat next to El, whispering something into her ear as she quietly giggled back.

Richie felt a weird feeling, one that was fuzzy in his chest. Similar to the feeling he had when El first came into their lives that dreary fall a few years ago. That feeling when he and Mike had to protect Eleven but he noticed her gravitating to his twin more than him. It was similar to the feeling he had when he saw Beverly cozying up to Ben when they were having their group movie nights. It was a weird feeling that he couldn’t quite explain.

Richie must have been zoned out for a while when Stand nudged his arm, pulling him out of his trance.

“Richie?” Stan said.

Richie shook his head, making his black curls bounce. “What Stan?”

“Did you finish your homework? Miss Williams is collecting them at the beginning of next period.” He whispered.

Richie quickly glanced at the clock, noting that there was only ten minutes until the end of homeroom but he hadn’t even started last night’s math homework. He was too busy watching the newest episode of  _The Walking Dead_  with Eddie, the two of them in his basement practically screaming of fright while hidden behind blankets.

“Shit Stan!” Richie mumbled and shook his head. “Can I copy yours?”

Stand rolled his eyes but slid his answers towards Richie. “One of these days I’m going to give you all the wrong answers, that’ll teach you a lesson.”

Richie was feverishly scribbling down numbers and symbols faster than he could think. “You’re the man, Stan!”

Richie had gotten away with the copied math homework and even talked his way through an English assignment too. Sure, he often procrastinated and forgot about deadlines, but Richie was actually smart and held a good grade average. Richie knew he had a way with words and liked to talk himself through situations, just because he could.

Richie made his way into the main cafeteria, scanning the rows of tables for his group of friends. Bill and Lucas were always the first ones to snag a place to sit, claiming all the seats for their friends. What caught his eye was actually Dustin’s classic red and blue hat, the same one he’s been wearing since seventh grade. Richie zig-zagged his way to the table and plopped himself down in between Eddie and Ben.

The whole group was talking amongst themselves, multiple conversations happening at once.

“What are we talking about?” Richie asked as he took a bite of the sandwich Mike made for him last night.

“Lucas was explaining the new game he got for his x-box last night. He got past level ten already!” Eddie explained.

Dustin chimed in from across the table. “We were talking about going over to his house after school to check it out!”

Richie nodded his head. “Awesome, sounds cool! Eds are you going?”

“Yep” Eddie answered and took a bite of his pizza which he bought from the cafeteria.

Lunch carried on like usual; the group discussing the movie they had all seen together last Friday. Richie was yelling at El over the thematic meaning of Channing Tatum’s character in the newest  _Kingsmen_  movie. Mike was trying to defend El, although he agreed with his twin, mostly just beeping Richie until he shut up.

Max was just about to stand up and tell the both of them to quit it when all of a sudden, the floor rumbled below them. The red-haired girl gripped the table in front of her, the rest of the group doing the same. Everything around them started to shake harder for five seconds before stopping as if it never happened.

“What the hell was that?” Dustin asked. The matching faces of confusion surrounding him signalled that no one knew the answer.

Suddenly the lights in the cafeteria blacked out, leaving only the light dim of sunlight stretching in from the windows above.

“What the fuck?” Richie and Mike said in unison.

Everyone looked around frantically in the dark, trying to make sense of what was happening. Before anyone else could speak their confusion, the fire alarm went off, beeping at the highest pitch possible, alerting the students to exit the building as fast as they could.

The group of friends quickly gathered their belongings, As Richie grabbed his backpack from the floor, he noticed as Mike grabbed El’s hand, gripping hers tightly in his as they started towards the exit. Richie looked over at Eddie, a look of panic and shock falling over his face.

And the fuzzy feeling was back in Richie’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check me out on tumblr at strangestfinn!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! Chapter 2! I love writing this fic so thank you for all the positive feedback!! This chapter is sort of a filler but I left you all with a nice cliffhanger! Also if you haven’t noticed, this takes place in modern day but still holds the same events from season 1 and 2! Mike Hanlon is in this chapter but they all call him Mikey to differentiate from the two Mikes! Also, the title is from the song Just Another Day by Oingo Boingo!

Mike’s hand flew to El’s as soon as the high-pitched alarm started blaring. Their eyes met at the contact, her normally bright eyes washed over grey in fear. He squeezed her hand in reassurance before scanning around at his friends to make sure they were making their way out of the building.

“Guys let’s go!” He shouted. The whole cafeteria was full of confusion and chaos as everyone tried to make their way through the dark to the glowing red exit signs.

They all shuffled their way through the crowd, gripping one another’s shirts and bags to keep each other close. Once outside in the daylight, the group gathered around an oak tree outside by the parking lot.

“What the hell is going on?” Max demanded once they all caught their breaths.

Lucas grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “An earthquake?”

Ben sat down on the soft grass, crossing his legs. “In Hawkins?” He questioned. “Knowing this town, it was probably something bigger than that.”

They all exchanged looks. It had been almost two years since they last dealt with the Mind Flayer. Things had gone back to normal. Will didn’t have any more episodes. El was finally able to go to school with the rest of them. They were all able to sleep peacefully at night.

“Muh-maybe an experiment wuh-went wrong in the science lab?” Bill suggested, trying to ease everyone’s minds off of the dark past they shared.

“Hopefully.” Dustin replied.

As they waited for the alarm to clear, they all ended up on the grass below the tree trying to find ways to kill the time. Ben and Beverly were reading the new poetry booklet they were assigned for their literature class as they rest against the tree. Mike watched as El paced back and forth in front of him. Max, Dustin, and Lucas figured they might as well get a head start on the homework they were assigned from their earlier classes. Will, Stan, and Bill were sharing an old comic book and discussing their favourite characters. Eddie was sat against the tree with his legs out in front of him with Richie’s head in his lap, playing with his soft curls.

The fire alarm finally stopped beeping, although there was still a ringing sound in everyone’s ears. There were teachers walking around informing the children that they could not go back into the school yet for safety reasons.

“Holy fuck, how long have we been out here for?” Richie asked the group as he stared up at the clouds in the sky.

Stan looked down at his watch. “Well it’s almost one forty-five now so about an hour and a half I guess. Last period starts in like twenty minutes.”

“Why can’t they just let us go home?” Will asked.

“We could probably just leave and no one would notice!” Beverly answered.

“I think they’d notice us all getting on our bikes and riding away-” Dustin added but was cut off by the sound of a siren approaching.

The group of kids watched with wide eyes as three police trucks pulled up to the school and officers hopped out. Amongst the group of men was Hopper. El stopped pacing as she saw him slam the door of his truck.

She started to head over to her dad, jogging towards him and leaving the rest of the group behind. Mike quickly followed her.

“Dad!” She called out as he opened the door to the school, about to walk in.

“El?” He answered. He let the officers behind him enter the school. “Go back with the rest of the students.” He instructed.

“What’s going on?” She asked, ignoring his request.

Mike came to a stop next to her. “We’ve been outside for like two hours, what is happening?”

Hopper sighed. “I have no idea. We just got a call from the principal saying that there was an emergency and to bring the police team with me.”

El and Mike looked at each other with concerned eyes.

“You two have to go back where you came from though. This could be dangerous.” Jim added.

“Dad, we’ve done dangerous before.” El reminded him.

“Yeah, and things have been fine ever since. Look honestly, you guys should just head on home. Tell your friends to go home too or to our house, where ever.” Hopper said. “I’ll be home later, okay? Stay safe.”

“Okay.” El replied and with that Hopper reopened the door and headed into the school. The two teens stood there for a few moments peering into the dark halls but unable to see anything going on inside.

They walked back over to their group of friends and told them what Jim had said.

“O-okay let’s g-go then! It’s a long wuh-walk to the cabin!” Bill stated as he stood up from the grass.

“We should walk past the farm and grab Mikey on our way over,” Stan suggested. “We can update him on all this weirdness.”

The group of kids looked around to make sure the teachers weren’t watching them before slipping away to the main street. They decided that they would retrieve their bikes later, having Steve drive them back that night and ride them back home.

It took about thirty-five minutes to walk to the farm. Luckily Mikey had finished up his home schooling for the day and was able to slip away from the farm for the afternoon. The group filled him on all of the strangeness from earlier that day.

“And what, you guys think this could be linked to the Mind Flayer?” Mikey asked his friends as they approached the cabin.

“Well we’re not sure, but I feel like it could be linked” Dustin explained.

El ran up the steps to the front door and unlocked door, holding it open and letting her friends follow in. The large group centered themselves around the living area. Beverly, Ben, Lucas, and Will sat down on the couch, Bill and Stan pulled up the chairs from the kitchen, Max placed herself on the arm rest of the couch next to Lucas, Richie and Eddie squished onto the reclining chair together, while Dustin, Mike and Mikey sat down on the small area rug. El perched herself on the edge of the coffee table.

“What if we’re reading too much into this?” Max offered. “Like Bill said, something could have gone wrong in the science lab easily.”

“Exactly,” Stan agreed. “I mean Richie practically blew up the lab last week with his genius idea to not pay attention to a word the teacher said!”

“Hey! I was being a great scientist, I knew what I was doing, Stanley!” Richie defended. “Besides, how else was I going to get Miss Anderson’s attention?” He said with a cheeky grin. Eddie elbowed him to get him to stop talking.

“I don’t really want to think about this” Will spoke up.

Everyone’s eyes shifted to Will. The boy had been through a lot dealing with the upside down and the Mind Flayer. Things had mostly gone back to normal since Eleven closed the gate, sealing away the upside down and everything that lurks within. It had been years since that night but the group of kids could never erase the memory from their minds.

Mike saw the fear behind Will’s eyes and instantly understood. He didn’t want to think about the possibility of things stirring up again. No one really did.

“Sorry Will, let’s talk about something else.” He said.

“Let’s play a game!” Beverly suggested.

“Hopper got me the new version of Just Dance, we could try it out?” El asked.

The group gave out a round of agreement and Dustin and Lucas quickly jumped up to move the table out of the way.

They all took turns playing Just Dance, each kid doing their best. Mike watched his friends goofing around, giving it their all. He went up against Richie, his twin calling it a ‘dance battle to end all dance battles’. Richie was a horrible dancer, but inevitable Mike was much worse.

“You’re shit at this, Wheeler!” Richie chirped.

“Shut up, Trashmouth! You dance like an old woman!” Mike threw back.

“Yeah? I learned it from Eddie’s mom!” Richie laughed as he continued to copy the danced moves shown on the TV.

“Beep Beep, Richie!” Eddie groaned from his spot on the chair.

“Don’t worry Eds, your dance moves are way better” Richie looked over his shoulder to give Eddie a wink. Richie’s sure he saw him blush but he didn’t say anything.

The twins finished their ‘dance battle’ and took their seats, breathing heavily beside on another. Their scores popped up on the screen followed by a sound of disappointment.

“You guys are actually the worst!” Beverly announced. “Watch and learn from the pros!” She pulled up El, Max and Dustin and the four of them chose a song.

Somehow the four were actually the best at the game, Dustin holding the high score proudly. They were halfway through the dance, each of them holding an almost perfect score.

“Here comes the golden bonus!” Dustin alerted the others as he waved his arms about in time with the music.

“Don’t distract me Dustin!” Max countered back as she jumped in time.

“And five, six, seven, eight-” Eleven was cut off by the sound of the cabin door flying open, hitting the wall beside it.

Everyone stopped moving and whipped their heads to look at the door. Hopper stood there, breathing heavily with wide eyes.

“We need to talk.” He stated. “Now!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I’m not the happiest with this chapter but I wanted to show a little more of just Richie&Mike together. I swear the next one will have a little more plot!

“Say something, Richie.” Mike prompted his twin.

The two of them had been home for almost an hour now. Hopper had offered them a ride home from the cabin. Steve had come to pick up the other kids who needed to get their bikes from the school as well. Now the boys were sitting in their shared bedroom, each on their respective beds that sat on opposite walls from each other. Richie, the one who never stops talking, hadn’t said a word since they walked through the door.

Richie shook his head. “I don’t want to think about it Mike, I can’t.” He stated in a low voice.

“I don’t want to think about it either. No one does, but I think we need to.” Mike explained. Richie looked over at his brother making eye contact. Mike could see the fear in his eyes and wished that he never had to see that look on his twin’s face ever again. He watched as Richie pushed up his glasses on his nose. Mike stood up from his bead and shuffled over to Richie’s, sitting down next to him. “Please tell me what you’re thinking.”

Richie took a deep breath before speaking. “I thought this was over, well I mean, I knew that it wasn’t going to be permanently over and that it would resurface again but I was hoping that we would be out of this town by then, Mike. I don’t want this bullshit to happen again. I don’t want our friends to be hurt, I don’t want to lose Eleven again either, none of us do!” Richie confessed.

Mike nodded his head. “I can’t lose her again either, Richie.”

The two boys sat in silence for a moment. The thoughts of everything happening again haunting their minds. Hopper’s words had hurt them and struck fear in their hearts. It was a feeling that kids their age weren’t supposed to experience.

Basically, Hopper had told all of the kids that he thinks the upside down had opened itself again, but somehow in a different location. This time much closer to the school.

“That’s not possible,” Eleven had said, “I closed the gate, it’s closed!”

“Part of the gymnasium caved in on itself, kind of like a sinkhole.” Hopper explained. “Turns out the tunnels actually reached to that part of town and the gym fell in due to the lack of foundation.”

“That doesn’t mean the gate is open again though!” Mike said from the couch where he was wedged in between Richie and Dustin.

“It doesn’t, but I went down into the hole to check things out and that weird dust is still floating everywhere” Hopper explained.

“The dust stopped once Eleven closed the gate.” Dustin confirmed. “It all dropped to the ground.” The group all gave each other concerned looks.

“So, what? The Muh-mind Fluh-flayer is back?” Bill asked with a small voice.

“Who knows?” Hopper said. “It could be anything, we don’t know what else inside that hell.”

A silence fell amongst the group again, the possibility of everything happening again shadowing their minds like a dark cloud. The Upside Down felt like a ticking time bomb.

Dustin was the one to speak again. “I guess we better start searching for that undead army then!” Everyone let out a groan.

\- - -

“So, where were you two after school today?” Ted had asked his sons over the dinner table.

“At Jane’s” Mike and Richie answered in unison, pausing only slightly from eating their food. Tonight was taco night, the twin’s favourite dinner.

Ted took a sip from his drink as he looked at Richie. “You were both at Jane’s?” He asked with a furrowed brow.

Richie frowned. “Why not? She’s my friend too.” He said.

“Well Jane is Mike’s  _girlfriend._ ” Ted explained, as if there was any confusion. “Don’t you have some girl to hang out with?”

“Oh yes, what about that nice Beverly?” Karen chimed in.

Richie rolled his eyes. “No, I don’t. I don’t need a girl to hang out with.” He stated.

“More like there’s no girls who want to hang out with you” Nancy chirped from her spot.

“Shut up!” Richie whined as he kicked Nancy’s leg under the table.

“Ow, what the hell you little freak, calm down!” She called out in anger.

“Oh, has something got you all hot and bothered, Nancy? Or shall I say someone?” Richie threw back. Nancy stood up from her seat. But Karen spoke before she could open her mouth.

“Enough you two!” She instructed. “Either stop this childishness or go to your rooms.”

Nancy sat back down and scooted her seat towards the table again. Richie gave her a glare before shoving the rest of his taco into his mouth and standing up and leaving the room. He jogged up the stairs to his room, pushing the door closed louder than usual. Mike looked around at his family at the table. Everyone went back to their meals as if nothing had happened, except for little Holly who just stared at Mike in confusion.

Mike waited a few minutes to see if anyone was going to start a new conversation. No one did and so he finished his last bite and went upstairs after his brother to see what was going on.

“What was that?” He asked as he closed the bedroom door behind them. Richie was laying down on his bed staring up at the ceiling.

“What was what?” He asked with a flat voice.

Mike laid down on his own bed. “You know what. That conversation with dad.” He rolled onto his side so he could see Richie. “Does it have to do with Eddie?”

Richie’s head turned to look at Mike. “What do you mean?” Richie could feel his heart beating a little faster.

“Do you like Eddie?” Mike asked with a soft voice as if not to scare his brother.

“Eddie’s my best friend.” Richie said.

Mike sighed. “That’s not what I asked.”

Richie pushed up his glasses, curling his hands into fists to rub his eyes. He could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks. This was something he had been thinking about over and over in his mind. The same thought conversation he always had each night before he fell asleep. The same feeling he pondered about whenever he was with Eddie and how he felt once he was gone. But it wasn’t the conversation he thought he was going to have with his twin, the person he’s closest with to in the entire world, tonight.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, Rich.” Mike offered, his voice just above a whisper.

Richie shook his head. He wasn’t sure if he was saying no to Mike or no to the thoughts floating around inside his mind, but he shook his head anyways. Mike understood, he always did, and he rolled onto his back and pulled out his phone turning his attention to that. Richie stayed where he was still staring at the ceiling above him. He stared at the white wall for as long as he could handle, trying to count the stippled dots until he lost count.

Eventually he worked up the courage to speak. “Mike?”

Mike sat up in his bed, placing his phone on the bedside table. “Yeah Richie?”

“How do you feel when you’re with Eleven?” Richie asked as he played with his own fingers.

“I don’t know,” Mike answered. “Lighter? I guess, like I’m on a cloud, but it’s a safe cloud that somehow keeps me grounded too.”

“That doesn’t make sense” Richie replied.

“Yeah, love doesn’t really make much sense but somehow it does too.” Mike smiled.

Richie rolled his eyes. He thought about Eddie for a quick moment, to see if his memories of him felt like floating. The fuzzy feeling in his chest returned. “Well fuck.”

“What?” Mike asked with wide eyes.

“You’re such a fucking sap” Richie laughed. Mike groaned from across the room and flopped himself back down onto his bed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long wait since chapter 3! I’ve been sick lately and super out of my element! But here it finally is!! This is the beginning of a wild ride!

“If  _X_  is equal to twelve and  _Z_  is equal to forty-one then the answer would be?” Mike prompted Eleven.

“Seven?” El guessed with a hopeful face. Unfortunately, she was wrong and Mike gently shook his head.

The two of them were sat next to each other at the Wheeler family dining table accompanied by Richie, Dustin, Eddie, and Will as well, each working on homework and assignments.

“Hey Will, can I see your history notes? I’m missing some from last class.” Eddie asked the small boy.

Will nodded and shuffled through his binder for the notes. “What happened there? You never miss any notes!” Will asked him back.

Eddie sighed. “You’re right, I normally don’t but this doofus here was distracting me!” He explained while elbowing Richie, who was sitting next to him, in the side. “Thanks, Will.”

“Hey! I was being regular ol’ Richie! You chose to get distracted!” Richie teased, earning a flick on the arm from Eddie this time. “Ow!” He whined, rubbing the spot with his hand. “I’ve been wounded! Shot even! How do you suppose I complete my work with such an injury, Eddie Spaghetti?” Richie pleaded with an English accent.

Eddie stared at the notes in front of him. “By not doing the British guy right now, that would be a good start.” He said.

Richie shrugged and opened up his science textbook. “I know you love the British guy, but fine.” He huffed.

“Richie, no one loves the British guy!” Mike argued from across the table.

“Yeah and no one loves that sweater of yours either but here we are, Michael!” Richie argued back with a cheery voice. Mike looked down at the sweater he was wearing, a knitted paisley blue and mint green crew neck that had wavy patterns on it. He looked back at his twin who’s face had a shit eating grin on it.

“I hate you.” Mike stated. He went back to reading his notebook to help Eleven with her math some more.

The group fell back into a focused silence, with only the sounds of pencils scratching and pages flipping. Time passed rather quickly as they worked and soon it was almost dinner time.

Eddie’s watch beeped, signalling that it was quarter to six o’clock and time for him to head home. He shuffled his papers together and quickly packed them away in his bag. “I gotta go, Ma’s making dinner.” He announced as he stood up.

Dustin folded up his papers also. “I’ll go with you, Mom will have a fit if I don’t feed Tews before she gets home!” Dustin and Eddie lived only a couple blocks apart. The two boys slipped their bags on and headed for the front door.

Richie stood up and followed them. “I’ll walk you guys home, grab some fresh air.” Dustin and Eddie both hummed in agreement, knowing that Richie always walked Eddie home anyways. He slipped on his sneakers and followed the other two boys outside.

“Have you guys heard of the new Spiderman movie that’s coming out?” Dustin asked the other two boys as they made their way towards his house. “It’s out next Friday, we should all go see it!”

“Is that the one with the guy who looks like he has frogs in his mouth?” Richie asked.

“What the fuck?” Eddie asked. “Frogs in his mouth? What the hell does that even mean, Richie?”

“It means that he looks like he’s keeping secret frogs in his cheeks, Eds!” Richie looked down at the sidewalk and kicked a stray rock with his foot. Dustin watched as it flew in front of them and jogged ahead to kick it himself. “Dusty, that’s my rock!” Richie teased.

“Mine now, Richard!” Dustin teased back. The two boys bickered back and forth over the rock in front of them until Eddie was fed up.

“Guys! Shut the fuck up, you can both kick the goddamn rock!” Eddie almost shouted out of frustration. Richie and Dustin continued to argue over the rock anyways. “Guys!” Eddie said again. “Guys!” Nothing.

The three boys had stopped walking. Eddie had basically given up on trying to get the other two to shut up so he could get home. Eddie glanced at his watch. It was six o’clock, meaning that he was already late. He figured he could just blame it on Mrs. Wheeler, claim that she had invited him to stay a little longer. Dustin and Richie had somehow left the original topic of the rock and were now arguing about Batman and Superman.

Knowing that they weren’t going to end their debate any time soon, Eddie looked around at his surroundings. They were beside the forest, the same one that stretches out near Will’s house and further to Mike’s farm. Eddie stared into the woods. The autumn sun was starting to set, casting a shadow over the forest floor. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something move, something quick and small run into a bush. Eddie felt his breathing hitch before remembering that animals live in the forest, it easily could have been a rabbit. He turned back to look at Richie who was now using his British voice again and Eddie smiled. Behind him, a bush rustled again, causing Eddie to whip around to see what the noise was.

“Guys?” Eddie asked with an unsteady voice. When neither answered, Eddie grabbed onto Richie’s arm, shaking him until he noticed Eddie.

“What’s up, Eds?” Richie asked as he turned to look where the Eddie was staring.

“There’s something out there.” Eddie answered. Richie and Dustin looked at each other, exchanging looks of confusion. The three boys stared into the forest watching for anything that could possibly be out.

“It was probably a squirrel or something, Eddie.” Dustin suggested. “I need to get home before my mom does, let’s go.” Dustin turned and started to walk away.

Richie looked down at Eddie and tilted his head as if asking if he was okay to keep walking home. Eddie gave him a slight nod and the three boys were off again. They soon made it to Dustin’s house where they dropped him off, exchanging goodbyes and see you laters.

“Let’s take the cut-off, I’m already too late to take Robinson Street home.” Eddie said leading the way from Dustin’s driveway. Richie followed suit, taking his long strides beside Eddie.

Thankfully, they made it to Eddie’s house only twelve minutes late (after fifteen minutes, Sonia calls the police trying to file for a missing person’s case). Eddie ran inside, calling out his apology to Sonia for being late. Richie followed him inside and into the kitchen where Eddie had bolted off to.

“Sorry Mrs. K! I warned Eddie Bear here that he was going to be late but he just wouldn’t listen to me!” Richie pleaded with an innocent voice. Eddie gave him his signature look that Richie knew meant “shut the fuck up”.

Sonia nodded her head slowly and looked over Richie. “Um, yes, thank you Mr. Tozier. Although I think it’s time you head home yourself.”

“Yes ma’am!” Richie said, giving her a salute before exiting the room. “I’ll call you later, Eds!” He shouted over his shoulder as he closed the front door behind him.

Richie made his way back home, cutting through the walkway, and back past Dustin’s house. He pulled out his phone as he walked, checking his notifications as he strolled. Dinner time wasn’t until seven at his house so he was in no rush. Beverly had texted him something about Mike being the annoying twin for once, Bill had sent him three snapchats all with some silly filter on his face, and Lucas had tagged him in multiple memes. He clicked on the meme, disappointed that it was one he had already seen about a week ago. Richie tagged Lucas back, typing out something about calling him a ‘n00b’ when he heard a noise come from beside him.

Richie hadn’t even noticed that he had made it as far as the woods again. He glanced into the shadowed trees, looking for the source of the noise. After a moment, Richie kept walking, he probably made the sound up in his head anyways. Less than a minute later he stopped again.

“ _Richie_.”

The boy stopped dead in his tracks. Spinning around to look for someone but no one was around. He swore he had heard his name, whispered sharply only just loud enough for him to hear.

“Hello?” Richie asked, his voice shaking. There was no response. He could feel his heart beating faster and an unsettling feeling rise in his stomach. Richie started walking again, his long legs stretching farther than normal. He was only two streets away from his own, if he pushed himself he could get there within the next three minutes.

“ _Richie?_ ” He knew that voice. He would recognize that voice anywhere.

Richie whipped around, his heart stopping when there was someone standing behind him. Not just someone but Eddie.

“Eddie? What are you doing, I just walked you home?” Richie questioned. His eyes locked on his friend. He studied this Eddie, but something was wrong.

“I was making sure you would get home safe, Rich.” The Eddie replied.

Richie nodded his head. He looked at all of Eddie, scanning over him entirely. Richie realised that the shirt he was wearing was the same style as the one he was wearing earlier but in a different colour, this one a pale green while he was wearing a blue shirt at school. Eddie was also wearing a fanny pack, the oddest part of it all since he had thrown them all away the summer he found out his medicine was bullshit. Eddie vowed that he’d never wear one again.

“Uh, thanks Eddie. But I can get home on my own.” Richie uttered nervously to the boy in front of him.

Eddie shook his head and Richie swore that he saw his eyes flicker to an eerie bright green colour before turning back to dark brown.

“I’m going to go now. See ya later.” Richie said before turning around and walking home. Once he made it to the end of his street he looked behind him, no sign of  _Eddie_  to be seen. He ran home pulling out his phone and dialing Eddie’s number as he went. Eddie picked up within seconds.

“Hey Rich, what’s up?” Eddie asked.

“You’re at home, right?” Richie asked him and he approached his own front door.

“Um, yeah, you literally dropped me off like eight minutes ago.” Eddie answered.

“And you’ve been home ever since?” Richie asked desperately.

“Yes, you weirdo, I was eating dinner with my mom. Are you okay? What’s going on?” Eddie asked with concern.

Richie’s heart rate picked up again. “Uh, nothing Eds.” Richie claimed. “I’ve got to go, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He explained, ending the call before Eddie could say anything else. Richie walked to the stairs passing the dining room on the way.

“Dinner’s ready, Richie!” Mrs. Wheeler called out to him.

“Sorry, I’m not hungry!” He shouted as he bolted upstairs to his room, slamming the door shut behind him. He stood with his back against the door, chest breathing heavily. “Holy fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check me out on tumblr at strangestfinn! I take requests there also!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! Chapter 5!! First I’d like to say that i’m sorry for such the long wait! I got drunk on thursday and then went skating last night which resulted in my practically breaking my knee so blame that for the long delay! There’s new character interactions in this chapter which I hope you all love!!!!

Richie couldn’t believe what he just saw. Eddie was at home, he just dropped him off minutes earlier. Eddie said he was home when Richie called him. Whatever Richie had spoken to was not Eddie, that was for sure. But if it wasn’t Eddie, who the fuck was it?

“Rich?” Mike called as he approached the top of the stairs. Richie turned around and slowly cracked the bedroom door open. “Richie, what’s going on?”

Richie stuck his arm out and yanked his twin into their shared room, slamming the door closed behind him.

“The weirdest fucking thing just happened, Mike!” Richie exclaimed. He was pacing back and forth the length of their room, biting his nails and he walked.

“What happened?” Mike asked as he moved to sit down on his bed. “And stop eating your damn fingers, it’s gross.”

Richie stopped pacing to glare at Mike but he let his hand drop to his side anyways. “So, I walked Eddie and Dustin home, right?” Mike nodded. “I dropped Eddie off and I was walking back home past the forest and I was almost home when some  _thing_  started talking to me!” Richie gestured dramatically.

Mike furrowed his eye brows. “What do you mean by  _thing_?”

“I have no idea what it was! It looked like Eddie-” Richie explained.

“Well was it Eddie?” Mike asked confused.

“No, it wasn’t!” Richie practically yelled. “I looked like Eddie but it was wrong, his clothes were different and he was wearing a fucking fanny pack, Mike! He hasn’t worn one for years!” Richie looked like he was having a nervous breakdown which worried Mike. “He didn’t talk like Eddie either.” Richie finally flopped down on his bed. “It wasn’t my Eds.” He practically whispered.

Mike just stared at him. “That’s weird.” Was all he had to say.

“Well no shit!” Richie replied.

___

“This would look lovely in your hair, Beverly!” Eleven said with excitement. She had been twisting daisies into a simple chain that was now long enough to become a flower crown. It was originally for herself but she thought the small white flowers would look better against Beverly’s red locks.  She tied off the past flower and lifted it up for Beverly to see.

“I love it, El.” She said with a smile. She dipped her head low so Eleven could gently place it on her head.

“I want one too!” Max chimed in from beside her.

Eleven looked around at the grass beneath her. She had used most of the stray daisies on the first chain. She spotted a singular white flower sitting about a foot away and reached over for it. “There’s not enough for another one, but here!” She gently leaned forward to Max and tucked the flower behind her ear in front of her red hair. “Pretty.” Eleven stated with a smile.

Max lifted her hand to softly touch the flower and smiled back. “Thanks!”

The three girls had been sitting in the tall grass near the river that lead down to the forest. It was a warm September day, the sun shining brightly in the late afternoon. They always ended up at this spot in town, it was peaceful and out of the way from everything else. It was only a short walk from Max’s house anyways so it just made sense.

Beverly laid down in the grass, her arms folding back to create a makeshift pillow behind her head. She let out a gently sigh before speaking. “I wonder how long it’s going to take for the gym to be rebuilt.”

Max laughed slightly. “I hope forever! I don’t need to play volleyball ever again!” She exclaimed. Sure, Max was good at sports but she absolutely hated gym class.

“I don’t like having health class everyday instead though!” Eleven added. “If I have to learn about food groups one more time I will explode!” All three girls laughed together.

Max stood up from where she was sitting and brushed off her jeans. “Speaking of school, I’ve gotta get going. Stupid English presentation and all.” She waved her hand dismissingly.

Beverly looked up at the clouds in the sky and chuckled. “Man, why does school have to ruin everything?” She asked.

“I like school.” Eleven said timidly.

“That’s because you’ve only been going for like two years! Any longer and you would hate just like we do!” Beverly explained with a smile.

It was true, Eleven had only been going to proper school since the beginning of freshman year. She had never gone to school before that. Sure, there was some sort of very basic and barely even considered schooling that she endured at Hawkins Lab but that didn’t count. She had only been learning in a real school environment for just over a year and a bit and she was loving every second of it! Eleven just smiled back at Beverly as they both stood up to follow Max back home.

The three of them treaded along the narrow path through the tall grass back up to the main road. The bushes were taller than normal, the wet summer having a great effect on the growth of all plants in Hawkins but for some reason these ones seemed larger than usual. The girls pushed through the bushes, climbing over stray branches. Max dipped her head as she pushed away a low tree branch before standing up straight at the road in front of them.

“Um, did we take a wrong turn somewhere?” Max asked with an unsteady voice.

Beverly, who was still a few feet behind called out. “No, what do you mean? It’s a straight path.” She ducked under the same branch and fell into line beside Max. “Um, what the fuck?”

Eleven was only a beat behind, squishing in between the two redheads. “Language, Beverly.” She said looking at the source of the foul language. Eleven’s eyes followed her gaze onto the street in front of them. “Where are we?” She asked, just as confused as her two friends.

She looked in front of her, taking in her total surroundings. Eleven had been almost everywhere in Hawkins, the party living all over town, but she had never been here before. None of them had. The road looked the exact same as Miller Road, the one that connected them back to the main street that lead them home. Although this wasn’t Miller Road, at least not the one they knew.

Max looked around. She had taken the correct path back through the brush but this wasn’t where it was supposed to open up. She took a step onto the street, turning to look for any sort of answer as to where they all were. She stared down the street searching for a street sign of any kind. After spotting one she jogged down towards it, Beverly and Eleven following quickly behind.

“It says Miller Road.” Max read aloud.

“This doesn’t feel like Miller Road.” Beverly said was an uneasy voice. A wind of cool air blew down the street making Beverly hug her arms, shivering from the sudden cold. She looked up at the sky, wondering when it became overcast. “When did it stop being sunny?” She asked the group.

Max and Eleven both looked up at the sky, taking in the odd sight. The bright blue sky was gone now having turned a purplish gray colour with dark clouds looming low. The sky gave Eleven a bad feeling, one that she had felt many times before but it hadn’t been back for two years now. She was about to say something when a bell rang pulling the three from their confused trance.

They spun around looking for the source of the bell finding an old run-down diner that looked like it was out of the nineteen fifties.

“That wasn’t there a moment ago, was it?” Max asked with a frown. She looked at Beverly who stared back with the same expression. One that looked like fear.

“Something wrong there, Max?” A familiar voice asked. Max turned her attention to the person walking out of the diner and towards her. It was Billy. “Why the sad face, little Max?”

“I- uh, no, nothing’s wrong, Billy.” Max stuttered staring right at him. She was so shocked to see him that she didn’t even realise how wrong the sight was.

“When did Billy get back from Boston?” Beverly whispered to her. Billy had left Hawkins right after graduation two years ago, moving to Boston just to get away from his abusive dad and everything else from the cow shit town (his exact words). He had no plans of ever coming back. Max looked at Beverly quickly, remembering that her step brother didn’t live here anymore.

“Why are you here, Billy?” Beverly asked as he slowly kept walking towards them before he stopped leaving about five feet in between them.

Billy smiled eerily, tilting his head to the side. “I’m here to see Maxine here, why else?”

Max didn’t know what to say. She curled her hands into tight fists. The idea of Billy being around again was the worst thing she’s heard.

Eleven looked at Billy giving him a total analyze. He didn’t look the same as she remembered. His hair was shorter and not curly, his shirt was buttoned up properly, he was wearing loose jeans and what looked to be sneakers on his feet. She had only met Billy a few times before he left but enough that she could tell that this wasn’t Billy. She was staring at him for a few minutes when he looked at her.

He turned his whole body, taking a step in her direction. Eleven stood there tall, not moving at all. He smirked and for a split second, Eleven swore that she saw his eyes flicker from blue to an eerie bright green. “How are you Eleven?” Billy asked with a devious smirk. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

Eleven was confused. She was only introduced to Billy as Jane. Only friends called her Eleven. Her forehead scrunched as she furrowed her brows. “My name is Jane.” She said.

Billy smiled nodding his head. “Oh yes, well, I think Eleven suits you better,” he paused looking her over, “Jane.”

Eleven visibly shuddered, a chill coming over her body. Beverly reached over slightly and grabbed her hand, giving it a slight squeeze.

Max took a deep breath. “Um, we have to get going, Billy. But it was nice seeing you.” She said as she turned back towards the path where they came from. Maybe if they went back to where they started they could figure their way out properly.

Billy nodded. “Nice seeing you girls again too.” He chirped.

The three girls rushed their way back to the path, ducking around all the same bushes. Max glanced behind her quickly to see if Billy was still watching but he had disappeared. The girls were running through the tall grass, frantically trying to get back to the correct path that would lead them home. A few moments later they were out on the street, the correct Miller Drive that they knew. Small colourful houses lined the street. They hopped onto the sidewalk and made their way home.

“What the fuck was that?” Beverly asked in between deep breaths.

“I don’t know, but it wasn’t Billy.” Eleven replied. “He knew my name.”

The three girls looked at each other with wary looks, unsure of what just happened and who they just met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> visit me on tumblr at strangestfinn!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE IT IS! I’m sorry for such the long wait but my ass is being royally tooled on my university so yeah! There’s more plot in this one so I hope you all enjoy! oof and it’s longer than the others yay! pls let me know what you think!!!

As Richie sat next to his brother with Eddie across from him and Eleven nearby, he felt calm. The four of them had decided to go out for milkshakes before going to the arcade after. They had all ordered their usual choices; a double chocolate shake for El, a vanilla one for Eddie, and two raspberry shakes for Mike and Richie plus a large order of fries for them all to share. The all sat talking idly as they waited for their food to arrive.

It had been a few days since the weird forest incident, but Richie hadn’t told anyone either than Mike, not even Eddie. It wasn’t that he thought Eddie would judge him, oh no, it was just that telling other people would make it more real and he wished that it had been a dream.

Little did Richie know that someone else in their booth had a similar experience, one almost even weirder than his.

“How is it only Wednesday?” Mike asked the group. “I swear it’s been four years since the weekend.”

“I almost don’t want the weekend,” Richie added as he fiddled with the salt shaker in front of him, unscrewing and screwing the lid off and on.

“That’s a first.” Eddie replied with a tone of surprise.

Richie shrugged. “Only because I have a paper due Monday that I do not want to write.”

“What’s it about, Richie?” El asked from across Mike.

Richie slid the shaker back to its spot and reached for small basket of sugar packets. “No clue!” He chirped. “But it’s for English class that’s all I remember!”

“How you haven’t flunked out of school already, I don’t understand.” Mike said in a bleak voice.

“You wouldn’t understand Michael, it’s a genius thing!” Richie teased as he shook a sugar packet in his face.

“Beep beep, Richie.” Mike replied as he rolled his eyes at his twin. Before Richie could start up again the waitress was back with their milkshakes and placing them on the table. They all thanked her nicely before she walked away.

Richie took a sip of his shake. “Oh shit! This is good!” He practically moaned. “Eds, wanna sip?”

“I don’t want mono, no thanks!” Eddie replied in disgust. “Maybe if you hadn’t taken a sip first but now you have, and you’ve gotten about five billion germs on that straw and I cannot be risking-“ Richie cut him off.

“It’s okay Eds!” He insisted. “I was just offering.” He gave Eddie a smile. Eddie knew that his medicine was just placebos for years now and stopped taking them a few summers back, but the knowledge of germs never left his head, still insisting that he should be cautious about everyday bacteria. 

“Mike, can I have try a sip?” Eleven asked timidly from her spot. Eddie glanced back at Richie’s drink for a second. He had to admit it did look good.

“Of course!” Mike answered enthusiastically and slid his glass towards her for El to try.

She took a small sip from the straw, humming in agreement. She nodded as she swallowed before giving Mike a smile. “That is good! Have a sip of mine.” She pushed her shake to Mike as he pulled his back.

Eddie watched the interaction happen before looking back at Richie who was eating a fry. “Fine.” Eddie gave in as he pulled his straw out of his milkshake and dunking it into Richie’s. “I’ll have a sip.” He took a decent sized gulp before pulling his straw back out and licking the excess off and sticking it back into his drink. Richie almost died at the sight.

“Whatcha think?” Richie asked with a smirk.

“It was good.” Eddie answered. “What’s that smile for? Stop that!”

Richie only smiled more at Eddie across from him. He had a bit of raspberry shake lingering on the corner of his lips. “You’ve got-“ Richie pointed to his own lip but Eddie didn’t understand. “Here.” He reached across the table and wiped the cream off of Eddie’s mouth and wiped it on his own napkin. “Got it.”

Eddie’s cheeks started to burn. “Um, thank you.” He mumbled, feeling stiff as a board from the sudden contact from Richie. He quickly went back to drinking his milkshake to cool himself down.

The front door of the diner opened, the small bell that hung above making a noise and Mike turned his head to look. Eleven shifted her body to follow his gaze and her eyes went wide when she saw Max’s mom standing at the door. She walked up to the front counter and spoke to the chef behind it before waiting as he moved away to fetch a large brown paper bag for her. She was picking up takeout.

Seeing Max’s mom made El think of Max and then further thoughts of Billy surfaced shortly after. She shuddered at the thought of their strange encounter from the other day. The three girls hadn’t told any of the others about it yet. None of them really wanted to, talking about it made it more real.

Mike noticed the solemn look that washed over El’s face.

“El, what’s wrong?” Mike asked with a worried tone.

She looked around at Eddie and Richie who were both watching her wide concerned eyes. She knew she needed to tell them something, Mike would keep asking questions anyways. She took a sip of her milkshake before deciding to explain.

“The other day I was with Max and Beverly. We were down by the river in the grass where we like to go.” The boys all nodded encouraging her to continue. “Everything was normal until we started walking home and none of us know what happened.”

“What do you mean?” Eddie asked gently.

“We somehow ended up on Miller Road, but it wasn’t true Miller Road. It was dark and creepy and there was a weird restaurant.” Eleven explained.

“What the fuck?” Richie mumbled. Mike elbowed him in the side.

“And Billy was there.” El added with a serious voice.

“Billy?” Mike questioned. “Like Billy Hargrove, Billy?”

El nodded her head.

“But he moved to Boston.” Eddie added.

She nodded. “I know. That’s why it’s weird. It wasn’t really Billy though, I know that much.”

“Wait!” Richie interjected. “What do you mean by that?” He looked at Mike who gave him a knowing look.

“It wasn’t Billy. It was a fake Billy. He was stranger than normal and his eyes flickered a weird-“

“Bright green colour?” Richie finished her sentence. He knew what she was talking about. This had happened to him. Eleven looked at him like he was crazy. “I know what you’re talking about. I saw him too, not Billy but I saw it.”

“Who did you see?” Eleven asked with a frown.

Richie looked at Eddie, his eyes locking on his. “I saw Eddie.”

Eddie’s eyes went wide. “What the hell do you mean _you saw me_?” He sounded panicked.

“I saw you. The day after I walked you home last week. By the forest, I saw you, but I know that it wasn’t you because you were at home and you were wearing a fucking fanny pack again, it wasn’t you!” Richie’s voice had gotten louder unintentionally as he rambled on. He didn’t like thinking of the strange encounter, didn’t like seeing the image of that fake Eddie in his mind.

“You saw him by the forest?” Eleven asked.

Richie nodded. “Yeah the one near Dustin’s house the one-“

“That connects to the river.” She finished for him.

“There wasn’t that weird restaurant you mentioned though, the houses were all the same.” Richie continued on.

“Can you show us, El?” Mike asked. “Do you remember how to get there?”

“Yes, I think so. We should get the others to come with us though, just in case.” She said.

“I’ll text everyone to meet at Dustin’s. Let’s go!” Mike said as he slipped out of the booth, El and Richie following suit.

“Wait, can’t I finish my milkshake?” Eddie called out after them, but they had already walked away. He quickly slurped down as much as he could before he got a brain freeze and ran out after them.

 

They all stood outside Dustin’s house. Everyone had been able to come, even Mikey who thankfully had finished up his work on the farm earlier in the day. They had all rode their bikes over and left them under the front awning of the Henderson household before moving to the end of the driveway to explain everything to everyone who needed filling in.

“So you want us to go into the forest where this mystery clone monster lives as the sun is starting to set?” Lucas asked the group as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“We still have pluh-plenty of duh-daylight left.” Bill answered. Lucas sighed.

“We don’t have to do anything.” Dustin said. “We just have to walk through the trees. Nothing we haven’t done before!”

“Besides! We have flashlights!” Mike added.

Bill made a start for the forest first, pulling Beverly along with him so she could lead the way. The others all followed along creating a line of pairs through the woods. Lucas and Stan, both who were not up for the idea of purposefully looking for something creepy in the woods before sunset, we the last to enter. They both looked at each other and sighed, Stan giving a small shrug before they set off behind the others.

“So, this _thing_ ,” Eddie started, “it looked like me?” He looked up at Richie as they walked around a fallen log.

Richie nodded. “Yeah, but it wasn’t you.”

“How did you know though?” Eddie questioned.

Richie looked at Eddie with a frown. “It didn’t sound like you and your clothes were different and you had a fanny pack on which isn’t part of your style anymore, Eds.”

“Who knows, maybe I’ll start wearing them again, they were handy.” Eddie contemplated.

“I’d still love you.” Richie let slip. “But this thing, it didn’t have your mannerisms down pact, it didn’t talk like you, and its eyes glitched.” He rambled on before Eddie could catch his slip.

“What do you mean glitch?” Eddie asked with furrowed brows.

“The eyes, they were brown like yours but then they flickered to green for a moment, it was like it’s tell.” Richie explained.

Eddie just hummed in thought.

“Right here!” Beverly called out from the front of the line. The group all gathered around her where she stood just at the edge of the woods. There were bushes on both sides of them and low branches hanging above them with their leaves starting to fall off.

“This is where you guys saw Billy?” Stan asked.

Max took another step forward in front of everyone. “No, out there.” She pointed out into the bushes ahead of them before walking forward and climbing through them like she had only a few days before.

Eleven and Beverly followed right behind with the rest of the group tagging along after. They came to the street just like the girls had before and they all looked around. The street sign said Miller Road, the same way it had but it looked nothing like the Miller Road they knew. The sky was dark but not in the same way the night sky is dark, as if a thunder cloud was shadowed over their heads. A slight breeze picked up causing a few leaves to blow by on the ground.

“Where the fuck are we?” Richie asked.

“We don’t know.” Beverly replied. “We just ended up here accidentally.”

“Whuh-where did you suh-see Billy?” Bill asked her.

“He came from there.” She pointed to the weird restaurant across the street. Bill started walking across the street and she followed.

“Where are you going?” Ben yelled at them while not moving from his spot.

“Inside.” Bill stated as if it were obvious.

Richie looked around at the rest of the group, seeing that their faces all looked somewhat shocked. “I’m not going in there!” He shouted. “It looks like the diner from hell!”

It did. The windows were dark and smoky, no longer working as a window. The once bright blue exterior paint was chipping away from the stucco siding and the neon pink lettering was so faded you couldn’t read what it had once said. There was a tall light sign stood next to the small building that read ‘DINER’. Without that, Richie probably wouldn’t have been able to tell what the building once was.

“Come on Ruh-richie, we need to suh-see what’s inside!” Bill encouraged.

The group started to cross the street to where Beverly and Bill stood, ready to enter.

“You’re all buying this shit?” Richie exclaimed in desperation.

“Don’t be such a baby!” Mike called at him. With a dramatic sigh, Richie crossed the street and joined the rest of them.

They pushed open the front door and shuffled inside. The sight was bizarre. The outside of the diner had looked completely run down, as if it had been closed since the 1950s, but the inside was spotless, in pristine condition as if the fifties never ended. The black and white checkered flooring sparkled it was so clean and the bright pink vinyl booths had a soft gleam to them. Music was playing softly around them and upon looking further, Richie could spot a neon juke box sitting against the wall. If he wasn’t so scared he would have run over and checked it out but his feet were planted beneath him.

“What is this?” Will asked to no one in particular.

“Welcome to the Last Chance Diner!” A chipper voice said to them. The group looked around panicked, trying to identify the source of the sound. “Stop looking around like I’m invisible, I’m right here!” The voice said again. Across the diner and thin woman with dark red hair and bright green eyes appeared behind the counter in front of the kitchen. “Come on inside, have a seat! Shall I prepare a table for thirteen?”

The group stood frozen in their spots, their feet glued to the ground waiting for someone to make the first decision for them all, Bill, Mike, anyone with a sense of what was going on. But none of them did. Richie couldn’t fight the troubling feeling that was swarming his brain, his flight instincts screaming in the back of his mind, but he stayed put, he couldn’t leave now.

As if he could hear his thoughts, Eddie reached his hand out from beside him and grabbed Richie’s in his, holding on tight as if their lives depended on it. Maybe they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hit me up at totaltozier on tumblr!!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow I am so sorry it's been a month! hopefully this was worth the wait!

The group stood in their spots, their feet glued to the ground in fear. None of them knew who or what the lady in front of them was but they could all tell that she wasn’t safe and that they needed to get out of there. Everyone looked around at each other, waiting for someone to say something, make a decision or a plan of how to get them all out safely.

“No thank you,” Mike finally broke the silence. “We actually all had dinner already.”

“Yeah, we’ll just be going now!” Dustin chimed in bravely. Thinking this was their chance to slip away, the group turned around to head back outside through the door.

The lady tilted her head. “What’s your hurry?” She asked. Lucas reached for the door handle to push it open, but he heard a _click_ noise signalling that the door had been locked. They all turned back around to see the lady standing in front of them now, just about seven feet away. “Please, have a seat.” She gestured towards the long table that ran down the center of the diner. The table wasn’t there before and none of them could wrap their head around how it had mysteriously appeared.

“Just d-do what she says,” Bill whispered to the group and they all slowly shuffled their way towards the table. They each sat down carefully, sliding into their seats slowly.

Richie slipped into his chair, his hand still firmly in Eddie’s. He could feel Eddie’s smaller hand slowly grip his tighter and Richie gave him a small squeeze. Eddie turned his head to look at Richie and he gave him a reassuring head nod.

“Now,” the lady began to speak. “Mike already mentioned that you have all eaten dinner so how about some desert?” She asked. “I have some pies, a few cakes, there’s even ice cream and sorbets in the freezer too!” She walked away from the table and back behind the counter. She reached for an apron that was laying over the counter and she slipped it on. “I know you all seem to be fans of milkshakes, I can whip some of those up for you all too.” She offered as she tied the apron’s strings in front of her waist.

“I’ll have a slice pie.” Beverly said. Max, who was sitting next to her, whipped her head around to glare at the other red-headed girl. “With some vanilla ice cream too, please.”

The lady clapped her hands together in delight. “Coming right up!” She turned to move around behind the counter, putting together Beverly’s request.

“Bev, what the fuck are you doing?” Dustin asked leaning in over the table. He had lowered his voice, so the lady couldn’t hear.

“If this is your ‘I want to run towards something and not away’ crap then you can just stop it right now!” Stan ordered.

Beverly looked back over at the girl to make sure she wasn’t watching them. “Look, we’re already in this situation and by the feeling this creepy place gives me, I don’t think we’re getting out of it anytime soon, “she explained. “I might as well eat some free pie while I’m still alive.”

“But what if it’s poisonous?” Will asked with concern.

Beverly shrugged. “Then I’m going out eating my favourite food!”

Mike crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. He leaned back into his chair, slouching slightly. He eyed the lady as she walked towards the table with Beverly’s pie in her hand. She carefully placed the plate in front of her and gave her a smile and a _bon appetite_. She moved to the other end of the table where Bill and Mikey were sitting and started talking to them, asking what they would like to eat. Mike quietly scooted his chair closer to Eleven’s who was sat next to him.

“Is there anything you can do?” He whispered to her.

She shook her head. “I don’t know,” she whispered back. “I don’t know what she is and if I tried to hurt her, I’m not sure how much it would take out of me.”

Mike nodded his head. He knew that Eleven was capable of a lot of things, especially since her time spent in the cabin, but she was right. No matter how strong she was, they didn’t know what they were dealing with and they couldn’t afford to mess around and risk someone getting hurt. They both looked back at the lady who had now brought desert to a few of the others, but Richie, Eddie and Will had all refused to eat anything.

Richie had his arms crossed over his chest, sitting in the same position as his twin now. He chewed on his lip as he analyzed the situation he was currently in. Across from him a few of his friends were nibbling on the desert that the mystery lady had brought them. She had yet to tell them her name or why she insisted that they all eat her food. Richie couldn’t understand why any of them were even eating the food either. Had their mothers not taught them to refuse food from strangers, especially ones who were not from this dimension?

The lady was now standing on the side of the table across from where Richie was sat and she placed her hands on her hips. “Are you sure you don’t want anything to eat, Richie?” She asked with her head tilted slightly.

“How come you know my name but I don’t know yours?” Richie asked her bravely. He wasn’t sure where his courage was coming from, maybe it bubbled up from his annoyance of being in the weird situation to be begin with.

A look of shock came over her face. “Oh my, what a horrible hostess I am!” She gasped. She shuffled to the end of the table as everyone’s eyes fell upon her. She stood tall with her hands clasped together in front of her waist, her elbows sticking out from the side. “My name is Nagmia,” she explained. “Or you can call me Mia for short.”

“That’s an odd name.” Richie challenged, staring her in the eye.

Her mouth fell into a tight line. “Well that’s what I am, Richie. Nagmia.” She said. Her gaze challenged Richie back, as if her eyes were daggers and she was trying to shoot them through his glasses. Richie refused to look away first. He blinked, but as he did he could have sworn he saw her eyes flicker bright green, the same way he had seen in _Eddie_ days earlier. A shiver fell down his spine.

A silence fell over the room as everyone who was eating went back to their food. The sound of silverware clinking against the china made Richie cringe. He hated everything about the situation. He didn’t understand where they were. He didn’t like the creepy vibe this _Nagmia_ lady was giving him. He definitely hated that his friends were easily accepting the mood she was giving them too.

“This cake is delicious, _Mia,_ ” Max complimented as she placed her fork down on the now empty plate.

Nagmia smiled. “Thank you, Maxine.” She accepted. “I am so glad you enjoyed it. Would you like anything else?”

“A milkshake, actually!” Max replied and Nagmia smiled with a nod.

“I’ll have one too,” Beverly chimed in. Bill had lowered his fork too as he requested a milkshake for himself. Soon half of the table had ordered milkshakes and Nagmia returned behind the counter with a smug smile.

“What the hell are you all doing?” Mike asked the group in a hushed tone as the milkshake machine whirred up across the diner.

“Relax Mike,” Dustin sighed. “The food is actually good.”

“It’s probably full of poison for some shit!” Mike stated. “You’re all going to drop dead or start bleeding to death soon because of some desert and we’re going to have to get out of this mess!” He gestured to the others who hadn’t ate a single bite of the mystery food.

“Maybe not all things are dangerous, Mike.” Lucas said, earning a glare from him.

“Yeah Mike, not all things are dangerous.” Beverly said with a smile. Her eyes were wide, staring at Mike and she tilted her head slightly to the side before her grin faded away and she looked back at her plate.

Nagmia returned with a tray full of drinks, each topped with whipped cream and a bright red maraschino cherry. She placed them down in front of them one by one. Mike watched as she placed one before him, despite not having ordered one.

“I didn’t ask for one.” Mike reminded her as she moved to place one down before Richie beside him. He pushed the drink away from him on the table.

“Just have a sip before denying it entirely.” She requested. Her voice was smooth and for some reason Mike wanted to listen to her.

Mike looked at the drink in front of him. It did look good, it was probably silky and sweet just how he liked them. He pulled the drink back towards him but didn’t sip it, just looked at it intently. He felt a tap of his thigh from beside him. He looked to Richie, assuming that was where it came from and met his eyes.

 _Pretend._ Richie mouthed to him. Mike furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he watched his brother place his lips on the straw but not suck anything through it. He pulled away and pretended to swallow before licking his lips.

Mike turned back to his drink and did the same, even humming in delight the same way he would if he were drinking a milkshake from their favourite restaurant. He could feel Eleven’s eyes watching him and he did the motion again before turning to her and mouthing the same request Richie had given him. She nodded her head and joined in on the charade too.

Nagmia observed the kids as they all drank their milkshakes, each of them commenting on how sweet and delicious they were. Mike had managed to stir his around making it look like he had drunk some of the drink.

“These were delicious, but I think we should all be on our way now.” Mike said as he pushed up from his chair.

Richie followed suit beside him. “Yeah, thanks for the treat Mia.” The rest of the group stood up and gave their thanks as they all headed for the door. Just as Mike was pushing open the door, Nagmia called out from behind them.

“See you all soon!” Her voice was chipper and knowing.

And with that Mike led them all out. He crossed the street, Eleven and Richie closely behind him and into the bushes that they had climbed through earlier. Once everyone was on the other side he spoke up.

“What the fuck were all of you thinking back there?” He practically yelled at his friends. “Are you all idiots now?”

“Calm down Mike,” Stan insisted. “Nothing bad happened.”

“But it easily could have!” Richie added in. “She could have easily poisoned you all! You could all be dead right now!”

“You were druh-drinking the milkshakes too, though.” Bill stated.

They all shook their heads. “We were pretending to drink the milkshakes, so she wouldn’t suspect anything of us.” Eddie explained. “We’re not dumb enough to get ourselves killed.” Everyone who had drank them stood there quietly.

“Yeah, I don’t want to deal with all of this sort of thing again.” Will added shyly. “I thought our lives were going to go back to normal.” He paused. “I want my life to be normal.”

“I want our lives to be normal too.” Eleven agreed. “Which is why I didn’t do anything that Mia told me to.” Mike nodded his head in agreement.

“Come on,” Richie said. He started walking ahead of everyone else. “I want to go home.”

Mike gave the group a glare before grabbing El’s hand and following his brother. Eddie kicked a stray rock on the path and crossed his arms as he jogged to join Richie at the front. The rest of the group shuffled behind them through the woods with their heads hanging low.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hit me up at totaltozier on tumblr!!


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